00:02:11.340And yet, two days after John Ratcliffe was sworn in as the new director of the CIA,
00:02:16.960they issued a public statement that said, quote,
00:02:19.560we have low confidence in this judgment and will continue to evaluate any available,
00:02:23.760credible new intelligence reporting or open source information that could change CIA's assessment.
00:02:30.140And by the way, low confidence, typically when the intelligence community has a conclusion,
00:02:35.060that they will report it with low confidence, with moderate confidence or with high confidence.
00:02:39.680So they're saying that they're not convinced it's absolutely right, but but they think it's correct.
00:02:45.300But but it's at the lowest confidence level.
00:02:48.760And they did note CIA continues to assess that both research related and natural origin scenarios of the covid pandemic remain plausible.
00:02:57.880It is striking, striking, however, that as as you just said a second ago, the CIA had concluded this some time ago.
00:03:07.840It's just under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
00:03:10.660They didn't bother to tell the American people.
00:03:13.460Listen to John Ratcliffe explaining this.
00:03:15.180Part of what we have to do is we have to restore Americans trust in our own institutions like the intelligence community and law enforcement.
00:03:44.860And so in the case of the CIA, which is the best foreign intelligence service in the world,
00:03:50.600after five years to not have a public assessment, to be honest with the American people about where the likely source of a of a pandemic that that killed millions around the world,
00:04:02.300including a million Americans and really impacted all three hundred and forty five million Americans in some way.
00:04:13.380They lost their businesses, all of that.
00:04:15.960And so I had the opportunity on my first day to make public an assessment that actually took place in the Biden administration.
00:04:23.080So it can't be accused of being political.
00:04:25.200And it and it and it does assess the CIA has assessed that the most likely cause of this pandemic that has wrought so much devastation around the world was because of a lab related incident in Wuhan.
00:04:37.880And so we'll continue to investigate that moving forward.
00:04:41.620But I think it was important for the American people to see an institution like the CIA get off the sidelines and and be truthful about what our intelligence shows at the same time of protecting us from adversaries like China if they caused or contributed to this.
00:05:09.760He is someone I sat and spent about an hour talking with him a week ago before his confirmation.
00:05:15.540And I'll tell you, one of the things I urge John to do is bring maximum transparency that's possible.
00:05:22.700Look, the nature of the CIA, you can't be transparent in everything.
00:05:26.100Obviously, we don't want the public to know the identity of covert agents or, you know, secret wiretaps or things that would jeopardize national security.
00:05:34.780But the consequences of the politicization and weaponization of both law enforcement and the intelligence community is that the public's trust in those institutions has been severely diminished.
00:05:48.300That's what John was talking about in that clip you just played.
00:05:51.400And so I urged him, by the way, it's the same thing I've urged Pam Bondi, who's been nominated to be attorney general.
00:05:56.420It's the same thing I've urged Kash Patel, who's been nominated to be FBI director, is have the maximum transparency possible.
00:06:04.340And in particular, I've urged them with respect to covid and the origins of covid.
00:06:09.240And by the way, any U.S. government complicity in terms of funding the Chinese research and the gain of function research that may have created the covid virus,
00:06:18.620that we need maximum transparency concerning that in particular.
00:06:22.260And I think John Ratcliffe is following through with that.
00:06:24.540I've also urged maximum transparency concerning January 6th and and any U.S. government informants who may have been involved,
00:06:33.400who may have enticed or entrapped people into conduct on that day to make that public as well.
00:06:38.720And I'm hopeful. And by the way, I'll mention Trump is also releasing the files on JFK and RFK and Martin Luther King's assassinations.
00:06:49.300I will note, Ben, when Trump said he was releasing the JFK files, I know you're going with this, I did at least tweet just wondering,
00:06:59.080what are the non extradition countries again? I'm asking for a friend.
00:07:04.000All right. You can't say that without telling the back story on this one. Right.
00:07:07.720Can you remind people the humor here on this?
00:07:10.740Sure. During 2016, Trump accused my father of killing JFK, which, for the record, no, my dad did not kill JFK.
00:07:19.840He did kill Jimmy Hoffa. Jimmy Hoffa's buried my dad's backyard, but he didn't kill JFK.
00:07:25.360And so it's it's it's it's it's a thing.
00:07:29.700And so if he's releasing the JFK files, I got to tell you, I'm buying a plane ticket for my dad to go to Bolivia right now.
00:07:38.440So between that and the Zodiac killer, you just making headlines, my friend.
00:07:42.660And it is amazing. So, Ben, there is actually a real poll that I have seen that show this was a few years ago,
00:07:49.360that 28 percent of Floridians believe I may well be the Zodiac killer, which is that's what I would frame and put on my desk.
00:08:00.180It really is. And given that the Zodiac killer killed a number of people in northern California in the 1960s,
00:08:05.860before I was born, that's an amazing talent to be able to murder in utero, to reach like back in time.
00:08:14.040That that's that that that's just, you know, I'm kind of proud of that.
00:08:18.160I mean, if liberals need another reason to be afraid of you, just know that Senator Cruz can time travel per per Internet reports.
00:08:27.620I love it. All right. Let's talk about the last thing on our list.
00:08:31.900And it is one. Were you right in your prediction? When did you get home?
00:08:37.420We if you listen to our last show, we were talking about our Democrats going to hold out through the weekend.
00:08:42.380Are you going to have to stay in D.C. all weekend? Are you going to get to come home?
00:08:45.940They were holding up the nominations yet again. So tell us how that went down.
00:08:50.680When did you get back? Were you right?
00:08:52.360So I was right. I said I thought we'd get back Saturday.
00:08:56.380I thought the Democrats would fight tooth and nail to try to beat Pete Hegseth.
00:09:00.420I said they'd lose. And I said when they lost, they'd give in and they want to get out of town because they want to get home just like we do.
00:09:07.260So that's exactly what happened. So we were there. We were there late Friday night.
00:09:12.640And and then we ended up finishing the vote Saturday morning and we all flew out Saturday afternoon.
00:09:17.520So so I'm you and I are recording. It is twelve eleven in the morning right now, Sunday night, Monday morning.
00:09:23.900I'm in Houston and tomorrow morning I'll fly back to D.C. to go back to the Senate tomorrow.
00:09:29.080So we did get out. And where are we on the confirmations?
00:09:32.300So right now, four cabinet members have been confirmed.
00:09:35.740The first to be confirmed was Marco Rubio, a secretary of state.
00:09:38.980He was confirmed on January 20th. The vote was ninety nine to nothing.
00:09:44.420The second to be confirmed was the guy that you just played that clip from, John Ratcliffe, a director.
00:09:50.660The vote was seventy two to twenty six. So big bipartisan vote.
00:09:55.860And and it's striking, though, that that that the Democrats delayed that several days, even though there was clear bipartisan support for him.
00:10:04.440Ratcliffe should have been confirmed on January 20th.
00:10:06.760Also, in fact, we thought he was going to.
00:10:09.260And the Democrats delayed it several days just because they're engaged in obstruction.
00:11:06.500So a respectable bipartisan vote, not overwhelming, but she got got six Democrats.
00:11:12.420And next week, we have teed up Scott Besant for Secretary of Treasury, Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation, Chris Wright for Secretary of Energy, and Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior.
00:16:51.560If we put it on the floor and Democrats decide to be partisan, they decide, OK, we're going to oppose it because we just oppose any tax cut.
00:17:14.400But it's a win-win because every Democrat senator who votes no, that is an ugly issue in two years to go face the voters and say, hey, I voted against no taxes on tips.
00:17:26.740Even though every waiter, every waitress, every bartender, every taxi driver, every Uber driver, every barber, every hairstylist, every nail salon person, everyone who is relying on tips cares a lot about this.
00:17:43.540So if the Democrats all want to vote against it, look, I think this policy is an incredible embodiment of the most important political transformation of the last decade, which is that Republicans have become a blue-collar party.
00:18:00.380We are the party of waiters and waitresses and working men and women.
00:18:04.700And so Democrats can decide where they stand, but I think we ought to get this passed.
00:18:08.980And one way or another, my prediction is this will get done before the end of 2025.
00:18:15.740Is this one of those issues where people should call their congressmen, their senators?
00:20:36.800187 people, this is yesterday, called in support of RFK Jr. for HHS secretary.
00:20:44.66093 people called in opposition to RFK Jr.
00:20:48.960So, about two to one, Bobby Kennedy, the calls were coming in.
00:20:53.18019 people called in support of Kash Patel for FBI director.
00:20:58.600432 people called in opposition to Kash Patel as FBI director.
00:21:05.460And I think there probably were some liberal groups stirring up calls because that number is big enough, 432.
00:21:11.240I was going to say, when you see days like that, you've got to be thinking somebody went on an email campaign or a call blitz campaign and said, target this member today specifically.
00:21:21.740Because if it doesn't match the day before or the day after, that's kind of the tell, right?
00:22:06.500I get that report every day and I read it every day.
00:22:08.840Now, look, we get over the course of the year hundreds of thousands of calls.
00:22:15.440So I can't listen to every voicemail that comes in.
00:22:18.240I could literally spend all day long doing nothing but listening to voicemails and not do any hearings, not do any legislation, and I still wouldn't have enough time.
00:22:26.800So the way I consume that data is through a report like that.
00:22:30.340I just read you the report that came today.
00:22:33.700Every other member consumes it the same way.
00:22:35.740What I'm saying is, if you want Congress to pass no taxes on tips, you don't need to present a long, detailed, subtle argument as to all of the pros and cons.
00:22:48.640Just pick up the phone and call your member and say, pass no taxes on tips.
00:22:54.420If you say that sentence, it will get recorded in a report just like that to the House member or the senator you're calling.
00:23:02.120Like, that's how the information gets consumed.
00:23:15.480I can't promise that all 535 members of Congress do, but I certainly look at it every day because I work for 31 million Texans.
00:23:23.460And so I want to see what issues people are engaged on and what they care about.
00:23:28.720As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from early this week to hear the entire thing.
00:23:38.100Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.
00:23:44.260And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.
00:23:47.560I want to get back to the big story, number three of the week you may have missed.
00:24:13.980That obviously means the pace is moving up.
00:24:16.560When you look at so far what's happened, there does seem to be a little bit of a change now.
00:24:22.480We're noticing it with the Democrats and the media especially.
00:24:26.380It seems like there's a real appetite to just get a nominee, whatever one they can get their hands on, to not pass.
00:24:36.800Is that part of the gamesmanship that we're witnessing?
00:24:53.540Under the Senate rules, the Democrats can delay some.
00:24:57.660But I think within 30 days, we'll get them all through.
00:24:59.740Now, the three that they're going after hardest are in terms of cabinet nominees, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, Bobby Kennedy for Health and Human Services.
00:25:15.200And then it's not a cabinet position, but Kash Patel for Director of the FBI, which is a sub-cabinet position, but a very, very important law enforcement position.
00:25:49.020And as I put it, I said, my assessment of the Democrats' behavior at Kash Patel's hearing reminded me of the quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth.
00:25:58.140It was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.
00:26:03.400That is a great, accurate way of describing.
00:26:06.440It was a you-know-what show is how I was going to put it.
00:26:09.200But they didn't land any material blows.
00:26:11.460And look, the point on Kash, what they're attacking him on, not that he's not qualified.
00:26:18.220He has over a decade of experience in law enforcement and national security, including having been a federal public defender, including having been a federal prosecutor, having worked in the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, having worked in the White House and the National Security Council, having been a senior intelligence staffer on Capitol Hill, and having been the chief of staff at the United States Defense Department.
00:26:45.640What they're arguing is they're terrified he will do exactly what President Trump promised he would do, which is eliminate the politicization and weaponization of the FBI and get it back to its core function.
00:27:09.680It is not impossible that that one of those nominees is defeated.
00:27:15.800But I think they all make it through right now.
00:27:18.180When you look at the Republicans, when Democrats are pushing this obstructionism the way that they they're doing it and trying to slow things down, does that unify the Republican base more because it's like, all right, come on, guys, does that make it actually easier to get the votes you need because you realize what you're up against?
00:27:36.400Oh, look, potentially, you had Pete Hegseth, who is the one they went after the hardest so far, and that vote was 50 50.
00:29:25.240Bobby Kennedy until recently on many policies is his views were were quite left of center.
00:29:34.420I'm going to vote for Bobby Kennedy because I think he's a change agent, because I think he has courage to take on.
00:29:40.300I think some of the corruption that we have at HHS, particularly with big pharma that gets in bed with with with the career bureaucrats there and stifles competition and drives up costs.
00:29:50.280I think if you have a terrible disease, you should have a right to access life saving medication.
00:29:59.820And I'm one of the original sponsors of the right to try legislation.
00:30:57.740Almost all the members of this panel are accepting, including yourself, are accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry.